Tag / Humboldt State

So as it turns out – I am appalling at keeping any semblance of a consistent blog. I would apologise but realistically, that just means I am having too good a time to write about. This is more or less the truth (we’ll go with more because it implies I’m the king of good times). Although it has been many (many) months since my last post I am still not going to update you on everything I’ve been doing. There are two reasons for this:

1. Mostly it has been a lot of drinking. There are only so many stories you can tell about drinking before your audience becomes hazy-eyed and starts musing about the wonders of water. (Been there, done that).

2. My general ability to tell riveting stories is somewhat underwhelming. I often have to inform people that my story has ended. I don’t want to put your through that.

Honestly, there is no purpose to this post which pretty much means that it could digress into anything. The risk is what makes it exciting. I might start reciting poetry soon. You really never know. I have decided that when I finally get home, this will be more of a once-in-a-while storytelling blog rather than a ‘here are the mundane goings on of my life’ blog. It is a giant cop-out on my part seeing as it confirms my inability to commit to anything for a long period of time but that is ok, life goes on.

I never quite understood the people that felt the need to inform the world (or even just their friends) of everything they did in a day. So you had a sandwich? Awesome. I don’t want to see a photo of it though. In saying that; I did actually have a delicious sandwich today: avocado, lettuce, sprouts and ham. That bad boy was so good. Unfortunately (and I know you’re all torn up over this one) I didn’t manage to get a photo of it. Some things just don’t stick around quick enough.

This leads me onto another thing that I have discovered I’m terrible at: taking photos. I was in New York for almost a full week over Thanksgiving break and took zero photos. For my part; I’m ok with this because it means I was having too much fun to be bothered to take photos but it leads me to realise that I have taken very few since I’ve been here. While I recognise and enjoy looking at a good photo, I don’t believe it replaces the feeling of experiencing a moment. Indeed, it often has the disillusioning effect of making something disappointing in ‘real life’. Photos can be edited; people want you to think the photo they took is the most exciting thing ever. Therefore, people edit photos. I tell you, it was a real shocker to me when I realised Time Square was not naturally Sepia toned. Quite the eye-opener.

On that note; I will leave you to ponder these thoughts because I honestly have no more to say. Peace out.

So after a 23 (approximately) hour journey across time-zones; I am now sitting in my dorm room in Arcata, California after partaking in some traditional American cuisine (read: chicken parma sub and a coke aka soda).

My dorm from the outside looks pretty cool.

My dorm is pretty cool. Once you’ve walked up a massive hill (pictured below) its actually really beautiful. I had to get some help to walk (drag) my stuff up The Hill because it is really steep. Surrounded on all sides by redwoods. It is quite picturesque. (I will take some pictures tomorrow maybe, I haven’t really had time to yet). I’m the first one to move into my dorm. Today I went to Eureka, California to buy essentials and came back with 1 orange plate, bowl, cup and knife and fork (nothing if not matching don’t you know).

This is The Hill. It will be referred to in capital from now on. (Picture does not do justice)

I’m actually without bed linen until tomorrow which I thought would matter but it doesn’t. Technologically impaired Bek is unable to turn off the heating in the apartment so until such time as my room-mates arrive it’s going to be like 23 degrees in here. I also spent 10min trying to figure out how to work the shower, you will be happy to know that I got there in the end.

There really isn’t much to report back at this stage. I’ve met a lot of people already and made friends with a few of them. Most people are really helpful. I think everyone gets in on Tuesday so then I assume the university will be busy, at the moment though it’s just really peaceful.

The view from outside my window.

That’s all for the moment I think. I’ll update you all a bit later on how things are travelling. There is a hiking trail which I can see just outside my window so tomorrow I might check it out and see where it goes. Who knows.